OTTAWA, June 27th, 2016
John Gruetzner and Andrew Work, on behalf of the 24 person founders’ group, is pleased to announce that the recently formed China Policy Centre based in Ottawa is currently actively recruiting its first group of individual members.
Membership is open to individual Canadians with a strong commitment and knowledge of China that work in business, government, civil society, academia and media. The first AGM will be held in the fall and the first Board of Directors will be elected by the members.
Corporate memberships will be offered in 2017.
The CPC will work to better understand and address the important economic, diplomatic, commercial, environmental, labour, national security and global governance questions and opportunities that China’s global positon present globally and to Canada.
The CPC also intends to fill a need in Canada for a forum that can conduct objective research and co-ordinate discussion about key policy issues related to China.
Its activities and mandate will focus on issues impacting contemporary China and its global rise by providing analysis and public policy options on how to improve Canada’s overall understanding and engagement with China.
By curating research from global experts with peer input from existing think tanks, government, media, industry associations, businesses and NGOs, the CPC will develop objective, public policy-focused, fact-based analysis to help decision-makers in the public and private sectors.
The CPC will also provide actionable knowledge about China to key Canadian decision-makers, the media, public policy-focused organizations and the public.
To affect positive Canadian outcomes, the CPC will make its data-driven research available to the Government of Canada, all interested provincial governments, industry associations, public policy think tanks, the media and key Canadian stakeholders and…. will co-ordinate its efforts with those of similar organizations, societies and individuals in Canada, China and elsewhere.
The CPC will also develop programmes over time to work with Chinese governmental, academic and private institutions in areas of mutual policy interest. In addition, the CPC will support enhanced cultural understanding between Canada and China as a tool to be used in promoting a better public policy framework.
The CPC’s founding group members visualize the CPC as complementing the excellent work presently being accomplished by other leading domestic institutions, including the China Institute of the University of Alberta, the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, and the Canada China Business Council, and their global counterparts.
The CPC has been modeled after leading international China-focused organizations including the Great Britain China Centre, the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States, the National Committee on the United States-China Relations, the Australia-China Council, the China Policy Institute and La China Institute in France.
Membership in the CPC is free for the first year and open to Canadian citizens and entities controlled by Canadian citizens, in each case, subject to approval by the board of directors of the CPC. The organization will be under the supervision of its legal counsel until the first board is elected at the first AGM by the members.
To track CPC’s progress and work please follow at http://www.chinapolicycentre.com
Canadians that are interested in joining should contact John Gruetzner at jgruetzner@intercedent.com or Andrew Work at Andrew Work gavinawork@gmail.com
